


Up All Night

by menecio



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blanket Permission, Canon Universe, Drinking, Ensemble Cast, Getting Together, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Karaoke, M/M, Mentions of One Direction (technically One Path here), Sarutobi Asuma/Yuuhi Kurenai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27490633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/menecio/pseuds/menecio
Summary: It’s been ten years since Iruka’s favourite band was founded, and he plans to celebrate it with karaoke. Dragging his friends along is fun enough, but once Kakashi shows up and claims to also love the band, Iruka’s evening goes from good to great.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 33
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KeithYEET](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=KeithYEET).



> Happy birthday to the most excellent [KeithYEET](https://linktr.ee/KeithYEET), who makes the loveliest animations and draws Iruka in the best outfits!! 💞✨ You mentioned wanting to read a karaoke fic when One Direction's ten-year anniversary happened earlier this year, and I've been chipping away at this ever since. Enjoy!
> 
> Many thanks to [jessicamiriamdrew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessicamiriamdrew) and [HazelBeka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelbeka) for reading and encouraging me to finish and post this! Thanks to [booleanWildcard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/booleanWildcard) for being a wonderful beta!

It was the ten-year anniversary of Iruka’s favourite band from when he was a teenager. However tempting, that wasn’t an event he’d usually consider celebrating, but it had been a rough couple of days, and he deserved to indulge in a bit of silliness mixed in with a healthy dose of painless nostalgia. Nevermind that it was only Wednesday and he had to get up early the following day. He was an adult. As such, he was allowed to make informed yet still bad decisions.

He spent the majority of the school day planning his evening, going over all the options he had to celebrate something as embarrassingly hedonistic as one’s favourite band’s anniversary. Karaoke sounded like the superior option, for obvious reasons. What better way to lose yourself in the nostalgia of your teenage anthems than singing them until you went hoarse? Ideally, his friends would join him—since it would be dumb and maybe even a little pathetic to do it alone—but he wasn’t sure if any of them would be up for karaoke.

Anko and Kotetsu had been the kind who would lose their minds on the daily over the attractive band members, but Iruka wasn’t sure if they had actually enjoyed the peppy cutesy pop songs beyond a casual appreciation. Izumo and Genma had been absolute die-hard fans but kept it hush-hush, so they might dislike being invited to sing decade-old pop songs at a karaoke bar. Asuma had always humoured Iruka whenever the latter put on a CD of the band, but he tolerated the music more than actively enjoyed it.

Certain traitorous putzes that would remain unnamed had claimed to love the band, but Iruka was no longer sure how true that statement had been. In any case, he wouldn’t invite any traitorous putzes even if he were allowed.

Maybe Iruka would just invite all his friends and pretend it was an ironic celebration.

Even though he very much cared and still wasn’t over the band’s hiatus.

Five minutes before the end of the day, Iruka had everyone start to put their things away and clean up the classroom. He began straightening up his desk, keeping a weather eye on the children as they shoved their belongings into their backpacks and chatted amongst themselves. When the bell rang, he waved as the children hurried out, no doubt eager to get on with their after-school plans.

Personally, Iruka was quite excited to get on with his.

* * *

Being an active ninja with active ninja friends meant that, more often than not, impromptu outings were met with limited success. Usually, at least one person would be out of town and unable to show up for sudden beers at a pub on any random evening. Iruka tended to feel bad that he was almost always available, which had less to do with wanting to be out on a mission than that he wished his absent friends were also there. He had made his peace with being a stay-at-home shinobi long ago. It still sucked, sometimes, but most days he was okay with it.

Tonight, he was ecstatic about it, and especially about his luck.

“I’m so glad you could all make it,” he said over the ambient noise of the pub, smiling wide at his favourite group of assorted assholes. “I was worried you might be busy.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Anko lifted her pint and shouted, “ONE PATH, HELL YEAH!”

She proceeded to chug the whole thing down.

“You’re only here for Saijō Haruki,” Izumo said.

“He was hot,” Anko said, wiping the froth from her lips. “Is he still hot?”

Izumo shrugged. “He cut his hair.”

“Holy shit.” Anko clutched her empty pint to her chest, her eyes wide. “I’m feeling feelings of the mixed kind. I need to see a picture to decide how I feel about it.”

Izumo opened his mouth to reply, then shut it with a click.

Anko smirked at him. “Have you got pictures of Haruki at home, Izumo? _Recent_ pictures?”

Before he could reply, Asuma asked, “Was he the one with the sideburns?”

Kotetsu choked on his beer. Iruka started laughing.

“None of them had sideburns!” Kotestu said through the coughing.

Asuma hummed. “Are you sure?”

“They were a teen boy band. Where would the appeal of goddamn sideburns have been?”

“I think sideburns look nice,” Kurenai said, glancing at Asuma’s own sideburns.

Iruka rolled his eyes and turned away from the lovebirds. He raised an eyebrow at Izumo. “So, you know there’s a reason we came to this specific place to quote-unquote _ironically_ celebrate the One Path ten-year anniversary, right?”

“To regret it in the morning,” Izumo said.

Iruka gave him a flat look. “No.”

“No, no, I’d say he’s got it right,” Kotetsu piped up. “I mean—One Path, alcohol, karaoke. There will definitely be some regrets to be had in the morning.”

Iruka gave an acquiescing head-waggle, then grinned. “But they’ll be fun ones.”

“Ridiculous ones,” Izumo said.

“You cried a week straight when they announced the hiatus,” Iruka said. “There’s nothing more ridiculous than that.”

“What the hell? You cried for a month.”

“Your point being?”

“Just keep the beer coming,” Anko interrupted, “and I’m sure it’ll be an interesting night.”

Then she smiled at someone behind Iruka, all sunny and dimpled, which looked kind of creepy on her. Iruka turned around, then craned his neck to look at Genma’s face.

He squinted. “Stop looming, man, sheesh.”

Genma chuckled, senbon bobbing. “Hey, all. I brought someone. That okay?”

“Oh, my!” Kotetsu said, leaning back so he could catch a glimpse of Genma’s plus-one, looking delightfully scandalised until he clapped eyes on an unmistakable slouching jōnin. “Eh? Hatake?”

Iruka kicked Kotetsu under the table, not subtly. “Absolutely okay, yes. Glad you could make it—the both of you.” Iruka stood up. “Kakashi-san, you can have my chair. Shouldn’t be too long until one of the medium karaoke rooms frees up and we move there.”

“We can share, sensei,” Kakashi said, fluttering his single set of eyelashes at Iruka.

“No, thank you.”

Asuma sniggered. “Don’t you ever get tired of being turned down, Kakashi?”

“Don’t you?” Kakashi shot back.

The entire table laughed at that, Kurenai included. Asuma let his head fall back and groaned something about needing a smoke. With the greetings and sassing over, everyone returned to their drinks and each other, resuming conversations or starting new ones. Genma circled the table and sat on the last unclaimed chair; Kakashi gestured at Iruka’s vacated one.

“Really, sensei, sit down. I’m the unplanned addition here.”

“And I’m the one who organised this at the last possible minute.”

“It’s true that this is rather unscripted of you. Wouldn’t have taken you for that sort.”

Iruka tilted his head. “For what sort?”

Kakashi mimicked Iruka’s head-tilt. “The spontaneous sort, I guess. You look like you need to know things in advance and colour-code your almanac.”

“I don’t own an almanac.”

“But I bet you own one of those calendars with kitty pictures that you hang on the wall.”

“Ha, no.” Iruka paused for effect. “It’s got ramen pictures.”

Kakashi huffed a laugh. “Should’ve known.”

“Ichiraku was giving them out during New Year’s,” Iruka said.

“No need to defend yourself, sensei.”

“Yes, well, I bet you don’t own a calendar at all.”

“I do, too,” Kakashi said, eye glazing over in thought. “I got it… many years ago.”

Iruka laughed at that, an ugly snort of a laugh that would haunt him in his dreams. He slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle the rest of his unwitting impression of a pig. Asuma twisted around to give them a stern look then, using the opportunity to wrap an arm over the back of Kurenai’s chair.

“If you two are just going to stand there trying to out-gentleman each other, you can go ask how much longer it’ll be until one of the rooms frees up.”

Iruka glared down at Asuma, who had the gall to wink up at him. The rational part of Iruka reminded him that he couldn’t smack Sarutobi Asuma between the eyes just because he was being cheeky. The fun part said he should.

“Fine,” Iruka sighed. “Kakashi-san?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

They weaved their way through the tables. Iruka wasn’t sure if all karaoke bars were the same, but this one had a waiting area that doubled as a pub, and then the actual private rooms for singing were accessed through a hallway at the back. Iruka liked it. More often than not, you were drunk before you even began singing, which made for hilarious times. He did wish the bar weren’t quite so popular, though—despite being the middle of the week, it was still packed.

Once they made it to the bar, Iruka had some trouble getting the bartender’s attention. She answered his questions in a harried sort of way that left Iruka more sympathetic than annoyed at her curtness—she confirmed that they were next on the waiting list, and Iruka ordered another round of pints for everyone, leaning against the bartop to wait for the drinks.

“So, what’s the special occasion?” Kakashi asked, propping his chin up on one hand.

Iruka frowned at him. “Sorry?”

“You know, for this get-together.” Kakashi waved a hand around. “What are you celebrating?”

Iruka’s palms began to sweat. “Genma didn’t tell you?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, er, um.” Iruka scratched his nose, chuckling. “Well, it’s a bit silly, to be honest.”

“Don’t worry, sensei,” Kakashi said, his eye crinkling up into a smile. “I can keep a secret.”

Of course he could. He was Hatake Kakashi. Which was also the problem. Iruka wasn’t sure he would survive the process of admitting to a ninja of Kakashi’s calibre to having been—and, in all honesty, to still being—a fervent boy-band fanboy. He took no shit from higher-ranked ninjas who thought they could push him around because of his position and career choice, but he couldn’t handle being belittled for something he enjoyed privately.

Then again, Kakashi didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would—or even could—criticise his personal tastes. The man read porn in public, for crying out loud, and had no compunction about it whatsoever. If he even dared to look at Iruka wrong over his fanboying, Iruka was going to roast him alive.

“Well, basically,” he began, “it’s the tenth anniversary of this band I like—”

“One Path?“ Kakashi asked, straightening up, his mild gaze suddenly razor-sharp.

Iruka blinked at Kakashi. “You’re a One Path fan?”

Kakashi blushed, of all things. The light was dim and most of his face was covered, but he was so pale that Iruka could tell anyway. Kakashi read porn in public and blushed when asked if he liked a defunct boy band.

“Er, yeah,” he replied, scratching the back of his head.

“Oh,” Iruka said, Kakashi’s sharp angles transforming into soft edges before his very eyes.

“That’s unexpected, judging from your expression.”

“Yes, but not bad-unexpected,” Iruka said. He shook himself and beamed at Kakashi, who seemed taken aback by Iruka’s sudden glee. “Actually, this is great! Anko and Kotetsu are only in it for the hot band members, Izumo and Genma like to pretend they’re over it, and Asuma is just humouring me.”

“What about Kurenai?” Kakashi asked.

“I have no idea about Kurenai,” Iruka laughed. “I think she just tagged along because Asuma invited her.” He drummed his fingers on the bartop, stealing a glance at his companion. Kakashi was a One Path fan. It was a relief, but at the same time, it made Iruka feel like he’d just been slammed with a lightning jutsu. He stole another glance. “Is it too soon to ask you who’s your fave?”

Kakashi seemed to measure Iruka up for a moment, then said, “Well, I love all of them, but Norio’s super underrated—”

Iruka let out a little squeal. “Right? His solo album was so good!”

“The first one?”

“I was thinking more about the second one.”

“He took more risks in it,” Kakashi said, which seemed to mean he agreed.

Iruka nodded. “Yes! Though the first one was also really good—”

The bartender placed the new round of pints in front of them then, and Iruka reeled back from where he had been leaning closer to Kakashi. Iruka thanked the woman, trying not to stutter and blush like a teenager caught necking, and then Kakashi killed any sort of potential awkwardness dead by demonstrating a comical but effective taijutsu technique where he could keep the pints stuck to his arms with nothing but an increased chakra flow to his limbs.

Iruka was so charmed by how stupidly chivalrous Kakashi was acting that he helped the man stick all eight pints along his arms and then laughed as the elite jōnin maneuvered his way to their table without spilling a single drop. Their friends dutifully clapped and whistled at Kakashi’s dumb display of his wicked skills, then promptly relieved him of all pints but two.

“We’re up next,” Iruka told the table, accepting his drink from Kakashi. Neither of them moved to occupy Iruka’s empty chair. “Our room should clear out in ten minutes.”

“I can’t wait to mumble and bumble my way through every single One Path song ever,” Anko said, then her face lit up and she half-hummed a melody before half-singing, “ _To the best song ever._ ”

“Shut up and drink your beer, Anko,” Izumo said.

“I will drink and sing at the same time,” Anko said, giving Izumo a sharp smile. “Just for you.”

“Are they always like this?” Kakashi asked Iruka.

“Not really, but Izumo’s being particularly stiff tonight because of the aforementioned I’ve-outgrown-this veneer.” Iruka took a sip of his beer, then licked off the froth clinging to his upper lip. “Which just makes Anko want to poke him until he pops, and she’s very good at that.”

“Poking?”

Iruka grinned at Kakashi. “Popping.”

Kakashi stared at him, then sighed. “And we have to put up with this for ten more minutes?”

“It might get worse once the singing starts,” Iruka admitted, trying to keep the grimace off his face. Izumo and Anko tended to foil each other in fun ways, but they could be an explosive combination when too entrenched in their respective ends of the spectrum. “The plan is to get enough alcohol in Anko now that she passes out two songs in.”

“Noted,” Kakashi said, then louder, “Hey, Anko, if you finish your pint in the next ten seconds, you can have mine.”

Anko’s eyes glinted. “Your beer’s mine, pinwheel boy!”


	2. Chapter 2

The karaoke room they got was intended for ten people, which meant they had a bit of extra room to horse around, striking funny poses around the low table at the centre and wrestling each other on the sofas. Genma had a small pocket camera—a flat and rectangular thing that Iruka found cutely bizarre and that Kakashi regarded as a personal affront, for some reason. The film cartridge was new, Genma informed them, which was code for ‘you better fill this thing up with pictures because this celebration is the only good thing that’s happened to me since One Path said they were going on hiatus indefinitely.’

Anko made grabby-hands until she was granted temporary camera rights. She immediately had them revoked by suddenly turning and taking a picture of Izumo mid-yawn. Before things could escalate, a waiter brought them the snacks and drinks they had ordered. He quickly explained how the karaoke machine worked and then left with a bow.

“All right, so, One Path songs,” Iruka said, flipping through the thick laminated binder with all the available tracks. Kakashi came up behind Iruka and peered at it over Iruka’s shoulder, leaning over the sofa’s backrest. “If I remember right, the list is sorted by genre and then by band name.”

“One Path would be pop, right?” Asuma asked, cracking open the other binder they had.

“Yeah,” Kakashi said.

Asuma squinted at Kakashi. “You know the band?”

Kakashi glanced at Iruka like they were sharing the world’s funniest inside joke. “Yeah.”

The camera went off with a click and a soft mechanical whirr. Iruka’s eyes landed on Kurenai a second later, who was giggling at Kotetsu’s attempt to stuff two entire mozzarella sticks into his mouth, the camera already lowered in her grasp. Iruka grinned. That would make a funny picture.

“Huh.” Asuma went back to flipping through his binder. “Nice.”

“All right, let’s see,” Kakashi said, then reached over Iruka’s shoulder and skipped a considerable amount of pages all at once. He flicked over a few more, then made a small sound of triumph and tapped the binder. “Found it. Page 394.”

Iruka twisted around to stare up at him. Their faces were pretty close.

Kakashi was blushing again. “What?”

Iruka stared some more, then turned back around. “Nothing.”

“All right, Iruka,” Kotetsu said, handing him one of the two microphones. “Time to shine.”

“Dazzle us, baby,” Anko said, reaching for Iruka’s beer.

He gave up his drink after some token resistance. “I’m going up alone?”

“This was your idea,” Genma reminded him.

“Yes, but we rented the room for just two hours,” Iruka said.

Kotetsu raised a hand like they were in school or something. “I’ll join you next round.”

“Cowards,” Iruka muttered.

He went over the list of songs available. All the obvious hits were there, but a few of the lesser known tracks had also found their way into the repertoire. It probably had something to do with Iruka asking for said songs to be added every single time he had come to this bar with his friends. All in all, he was damn pleased that his whingeing had yielded results.

Kakashi hopped over the sofa and landed next to Iruka, one arm curled over the backrest. Iruka closed the binder and smiled at him, got a thumbs-up in reply, and then stood up and went to the karaoke machine.

“Did you pick the song already?” Izumo asked.

“Izumo, please.” Iruka punched in a track number and gave his friend a sly look. “I picked the song hours ago.”

* * *

By the time the third song rolled around, Anko was curled up and snoring at the end of one of the sofas. Kakashi, who had apparently never gone out drinking with Anko, was looking at her like she was the main attraction in a circus. In all fairness, his reaction was justified. Anko had a way of balling up that gave her snakes a run for their money.

Iruka handed Kotetsu his microphone and flopped down next to Kakashi. He was feeling a bit breathless and flushed but was still riding the high of singing _Tell Me a Lie_ with Kurenai, who had turned out to be a casual One Path fan but an avid karaoke lover. She sang and danced and whipped her hair like she was born to do just that, and Iruka found himself genuinely enjoying her presence.

“Don’t worry, that’s normal,” Iruka told Kakashi, gesturing at Anko.

“Sure,” Kakashi drawled, still staring at her.

Iruka opened a water bottle. “And she likes to drink like she isn’t a complete lightweight.”

“I thought she wasn’t a lightweight,” Kakashi said.

“Yeah, she’s got everyone fooled.”

Kakashi’s eye twinkled at him. “She sang well, though.”

Anko had used the last of her quickly-fading awareness to grab the second microphone and attempt to slur her way through _Temporary Fix_ , only to end up mostly leaning on Iruka and headbanging indiscriminately. She had most certainly not sung well, and it had been a miracle she hadn’t thrown up at the end.

Iruka grinned. “Sure,” he said, then downed half his water.

They swayed and nodded along as Kurenai and Kotetsu crooned along to _Change My Mind_. The pair’s duet had the curious effect of causing Asuma to turn purple. Everyone pretended they didn’t notice, but Kotetsu did sit as far away from Asuma as he could once the song finished.

“Hey, pass me the camera,” Genma said. “I’m gonna immortalise the Anko-roll.”

“We’ve got so many pictures of the Anko-roll, though,” Kotetsu said.

“And now we’ll have one more,” Genma said, accepting the camera from Izumo. He gingerly sat down on the low table and started testing whether he should lean forward or backward to get the best angle for the picture, camera ready. “You’re welcome.”

Kurenai sat down next to Asuma, fanning herself as she recovered her breath. She made to reach for a water bottle, but Asuma got it and handed it to her with a winsome grin. Iruka rolled his eyes, then caught Kakashi watching him. He blushed at getting caught being petty, but then Kakashi answered Iruka’s eye-roll with one of his own, and Iruka had to choke back a laugh.

The camera click-whirred in the background, and Genma made a pleased little noise that could only mean he had acquired yet another unflattering picture for what he lovingly called his Blackmail Bingo Book. Iruka had long lost count of how many pictures of him were in that album—he was really good at looking awkward and very bad at being photogenic.

“All right, who’s next?” asked Izumo.

“You could be,” Iruka said.

Izumo glared at him.

“Or not,” Iruka said. “But we know you want to.”

“Genma, too,” Kotetsu added. “C’mon, guys, you used to love this band.”

“Sure we did,” Genma said, moving to sit in one of the sofas. “When we were kids.”

“You’re allowed to like things as a grown-up, Genma,” Kotetsu said, then caught the peanut Genma had thrown at him with his mouth. “Yum.”

“I’ll toss the camera next,” Genma said. “See how yum that is.”

“Probably not very yum,” Iruka muttered, just loud enough for Kakashi to hear, and the man hid his amusement behind a soft cough. To the room, Iruka asked, “So, who’s next?”

“You,” Izumo said.

“I’ve sung two songs already.”

“This karaoke thing was your idea,” Genma said.

“Are you going to be saying that the whole two hours we’re in here?” Iruka asked. He wasn’t mad, but he was starting to get a bit frustrated. “We came here to sing. If you thought you’d be able to sit and brood in silence for two hours, think again.” He grabbed the microphone Kotetsu had placed on the table and shoved it at Genma. “Sing a damn song and live a little.”

Kakashi did laugh out loud then. “Come on, Genma. I’ll sing with you.”

Everyone sort of asked, “What?” at the same time, voices ranging from puzzled to alarmed. Iruka wasn’t sure how his own tone had sounded, but it had probably reflected the stupefaction he felt.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, well, it’s like Iruka-sensei said. This is a karaoke bar, so it’d be a bit silly not to sing at least one song. Besides, this band’s tunes are so catchy, don’t you think? I see no harm in having a bit of fun.”

Iruka was suddenly filled with a terrible need to hear Kakashi sing. He had a nice voice, deep yet soft, so he probably wouldn’t sound bad no matter what. The real question was how well he could sound. Iruka’s heart skipped a beat just thinking about it. He felt immediately stupid about it and hid his blush behind a long chug of water.

Genma was still looking at Kakashi like he had said the Sharingan wasn’t actually that useful a dojutsu. “You’ll really sing and not just stand there doing lip-sync?”

“I can’t do lip-sync, Genma,” Kakashi said. “It’s karaoke.”

“I am absolutely here for Hatake Kakashi singing boy band bops,” Asuma said, grabbing the microphone Kurenai had placed next to the chips and offered it to Kakashi. “Rock on, my man. Genma, I will kick your ass up there if that’s what it takes to have Kakashi sing. Don’t test me—and give me your camera.”

Genma’s resistance seemed to dissipate then. Maybe it was the fact that two of the elite jōnin present didn’t give a flying damn whether he liked One Path or not, or maybe it was that one of said elite jōnin was actually going to sing a One Path song with him, but after one last glance around the room, he let his shoulders relax and got his senbon out of his mouth.

“Well, I guess this _is_ a karaoke bar,” he said, standing up.

Iruka and Kotetsu broke into uproarious applause, whistling and screaming like rabid fans as the two men made their way to the karaoke machine. Genma and Kakashi whispered among themselves for a moment, using all their skill as ninjas to keep the rest of the room from hearing them, which was honestly quite funny. Then Genma nodded, and Kakashi entered the code for whatever track they had settled on.

Iruka cupped his hands around his mouth. “Get on with it!”

“Too many clothes!” Kotetsu added, and Asuma promptly smacked him.

Genma blew them a kiss with his middle finger just as the music began, and Iruka burst out laughing. Kakashi was surprisingly good, not just at singing, but at putting on a show—he made silly dance moves during _Kiss You_ ’s instrumental parts and acted out bits of the lyrics. He wasn’t great at it like Kurenai had been, but it was obvious he had some karaoke experience under his belt. Besides, his voice really was very nice.

It took most of the song for Genma to grow comfortable, but he was enjoying himself without reservations by the end of it. He struck a pose when the song finished, just like the One Path band members would often do, and Iruka just about lost it. He jumped to his feet and clapped until his hands smarted, the rest of their friends whistling and hooting their approval.

“That was everything,” Iruka said, hugging Genma.

“That felt good,” Genma mumbled next to Iruka’s ear. “One Path, hell yeah.”

Iruka grinned. “Hell yeah.”

“Did you get that?” Kakashi asked Asuma.

The man waved the camera around. “Your reputation’s donezo.”

“Great.” Kakashi tossed the microphone to Asuma, who reflectively caught it, then sat down and propped his feet up onto the table. “Hey, sensei, Saru-chan will help you sing the next one.”

“No, I won’t,” Asuma said, then noticed the way Kurenai’s face lit up. “Maybe. Dammit, fine.”

Iruka looked at Izumo. “And then you’re up.”

“Up yours,” Izumo muttered into his beer.

Iruka cackled and went to join Asuma at the karaoke machine. It took a couple of dead stares, but Iruka eventually convinced him to pick a peppier song instead of committing cheesy social suicide by singing _Something Great_. Instead, they bopped along to _Happily_ , with Asuma getting the chorus right after the third time and making everyone cheer like mad.

When they reached the last stretch of the song, Iruka jumped onto Asuma’s back and basically used him as a booster while he hyped up their audience. They almost fell on top of Kotetsu and Genma, but Asuma saved the day by pushing chakra to his feet to stay upright.

They bowed, red-faced and laughing, and accepted their friends’ applause with wide grins. Kotetsu basically snatched the microphone from Asuma and headed for the karaoke machine, throwing Izumo a look that was equal parts hopeful and excited.

“Come on,” Iruka said, offering Izumo the microphone.

He took it, lips pursed. “You suck.”

Iruka stuck his tongue out at him and went to sit, predictably, next to Kakashi.

“How is she still asleep?” Kakashi asked, gesturing at Anko.

“Not much of a difference between sleep and a coma when it comes to Anko,” Iruka said, rubbing his headband sideways to dry his forehead, then pushing it down so it hung around his neck. He drank the rest of his water bottle and leant back against the backrest, watching Kotetsu try to convince Izumo to sing _Heart Attack_.

Kakashi silently passed him another bottle.

Iruka took it with a small smile. “Thanks.”

“Does karaoke always make you this thirsty?”

“I’ve been drinking booze and yelling a lot,” Iruka said, unscrewing the cap. “I’d like to be able to use my voice tomorrow at school.”

“That’s a good point,” Kakashi said.

“It’s the best point.”

Kakashi chuckled as Iruka chugged down half the bottle. He shifted, crossing an ankle over his knee and using the momentum to swing an arm over the backrest—around Iruka. The pleased little grin that broke upon Iruka’s face then was as obvious as it was embarrassing, and he did his best to disguise it by shouting at his friends to pick a damn song already.

In her corner, Anko grumbled in her sleep and rolled away from all the noise.


	3. Chapter 3

About half an hour into their karaoke session, Kotetsu decided he wanted to sing a Suzaki Tala song.

Asuma threw peanuts at him. “Get the hook!”

“She dated Saijō Haruki, thus she’s on-topic,” Kotetsu said, then ignored everyone as he punched in the code for his chosen song.

Predictably enough, Izumo went up to join him when the first notes of what the pair liked to call ‘their song’ started playing. Kotetsu grinned at him and welcomed his friend with a quick half-hug. Izumo seemed terribly self-conscious about the whole thing at first, but quickly forgot his nerves in favour of acting out the lyrics with enough reckless abandon to match Kotetsu’s theatrics.

By the end of it, Iruka was clutching his sides from how hard he was laughing, and the rest weren’t doing much better. Kakashi was hiding the quarter of his face that was visible behind a hand, and he was shaking in violent yet silent laughter. Iruka elbowed him and suddenly the man was wheezing and clinging to Iruka’s side, trying to muffle his giggle-snorts as much as possible against the shoulder pad of Iruka’s vest.

“Thank you, thank you,” Kotetsu said, bowing and grinning like the beautiful idiot they all knew and loved. He turned to Izumo and offered a hand, and they nodded formally and did a business handshake, perfectly stone-faced, and Iruka was going to faint any second now because he couldn’t get enough air in his lungs from all the laughing.

Genma slid off the sofa and sprawled himself out on the floor, senbon falling out of his mouth to land by his ear. He heaved a sigh and scrubbed both hands down his face, catching his breath. “I was just aggressively reminded of why we call these two the Dynamic Duo.”

Really, trust Izumo and Kotetsu to make a song as melancholy as _White Horse_ cause one to cry from laughter rather than sadness. Iruka patted Kakashi’s arm, still giggling, and Kakashi pulled back a bit, having managed to partly get himself back under control. His face was flushed, single eye still sparkling with mirth, and Iruka thought the expression suited him much better than his usual lackadaisical stare.

“I still think that song didn’t count,” Asuma said.

“Well, she did date Saijō Haruki,” Iruka said. “She’s a valid choice, I guess.”

Asuma squinted at him.

“Not super valid,” Iruka said. “Borderline valid.”

Kotetsu glared down his nose at them. “Life’s too short to pretend you don’t like Suzaki Tala.”

“Oh, I like her,” Kakashi said.

Iruka turned to stare at him. They all did, in fact.

“You do?” Kotetsu asked.

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” Kotetsu said. He didn’t seem to know what to do with that information.

Neither did anyone else.

After a moment, Asuma said, “That’s all right, I guess,” then reached for some chips.

Iruka snorted. “That was so underwhelming.”

“He just said he likes Suzaki Tala. He deserves underwhelming.”

“I’m surrounded by heretics,” Kakashi said. “Amazing.”

Kotetsu came over and raised a hand. Kakashi actually high-fived him.

“Finally, a man of taste,” Kotetsu said.

Kakashi’s eye arched into a smile. “Let’s join forces and convert them.”

* * *

 _If you can’t beat them, join them_ , Iruka thought as he went up to sing a Suzaki Tala song. Kakashi and Kotetsu had sung two of her tracks back-to-back, with Asuma jumping up to help sing the final lines of the second song, and then Kurenai had decided she wanted to sing one too and dragged Iruka to the front with her.

Funnily enough, Kurenai didn’t appear to have strong feelings when it came to any music band or genre, but she had aced all her performances so far. She knew every song inside out—the nonsensical humming parts, the unexpected changes in tempo, the difficult lyrical bits that only dedicated fans or, apparently, extremely dedicated karaoke lovers could get right.

Iruka would have faded into the background next to Kurenai if he hadn’t been in the first category when it came to One Path, but he was a bit out of his element when it came to Suzaki Tala. He hoped Kurenai wouldn’t mind it when he messed up. Normally, he didn’t really mind botching a song during karaoke, but Kurenai’s obvious passion for it made him want to do better than usual.

They flipped through the Suzaki Tala pages in the binder for about a minute, trying to decide which one they would sing. Iruka wanted to pick a melancholy song and goof off to it like Kotetsu and Izumo had done, but Kurenai didn’t seem interested in the idea. In the end, they compromised and picked a fun song they could strut to. Iruka spent most of it acting drunker than he was and Kurenai looking like a flippant goddess as they sang about the _New Romantics_.

At one point, Iruka extended a hand to their audience, giving a dramatic head-tilt, and Kakashi grabbed it. The light squeeze to Iruka’s fingers before Kakashi let him go shouldn’t have been anything memorable, but Iruka spent the rest of the song thinking about it. He hoped he could blame his blush on the karaoke.

* * *

By the end of the first hour, things had slowed down some. They had stopped going up to sing one song after another, instead taking a break around the table and ordering a second round of snacks and drinks. Iruka got booed for insisting they get more water, but no one did more than squint at Kakashi when the man also asked for a non-alcoholic drink. After the waiter left with their orders, Iruka turned to his friends.

“What, aren’t you going to boo him?” he asked, pointing at Kakashi.

“No,” Izumo said. “He’s the Copy-nin.”

Kotetsu nodded in agreement. “He can drink whatever he wants.”

Iruka crossed his arms. “That’s not fair.”

Asuma shrugged, working a toothpick between his teeth. “Sorry, kid.”

Kurenai laughed delicately behind her hand. Iruka narrowed his eyes at her, which only made her laugh more. Anko shifted in her sleep, and everyone turned to look at her. She had uncurled from her previous position and was now half-draped over the backrest, though no one was sure how she had done that without waking up.

“Is she… regaining consciousness?” Kotetsu asked, peering at her over his friends’ heads.

Kakashi was sitting closest to her, having favoured sitting between her and Iruka all evening, which made Iruka down the dredges of his tepid beer to hide his smile. Unaware of Iruka’s musings, Kakashi leant away from him slightly to check the expression on Anko’s face.

“She looks decidedly comatose,” Kakashi said.

Iruka chuckled, setting his empty pint down. “She bounces back pretty fast.”

This time, he let Kakashi see him smile when the man pressed against his side again, arm curling around Iruka’s shoulders. Kakashi returned the smile, eye crinkling up into a soft arch. At some point during the evening, they had apparently reached a silent agreement that keeping up with the subtle flirting was too much of a hassle.

A camera went off in the background.

Iruka whipped his head around. “ _Genma_.”

Genma pointed at Izumo, who lowered the camera with a placid expression. The others were sniggering in the background, and Kotetsu looked two seconds away from passing out due to stifling his laughter so much. Even Anko gave a little snort in her sleep.

“Ouch,” Kakashi said. Iruka turned back around to see him rubbing his single eye. “Ponytail.”

Iruka blushed to the roots of his hair. “Oh, I’m so sorry—”

“It’s all right, sensei,” Kakashi said, lowering his hand. “Don’t worry.”

“Yeah, sensei,” Genma said, grinning when Iruka glared at him. “It’s _all right_.”

“You know what’s not all right?” Asuma asked. “Not having any snacks.”

“The waiter was here literally a minute ago, Asuma,” Kakashi said. “Give him twenty minutes to bring us our order before you start asking to see his manager.” Having said that, he let head drop back against the plush backrest and gave a long-suffering sigh. “Rich kids can be so hoity-toity.”

Asuma tossed his toothpick at Kakashi, who deflected it with a lazy flick of his wrist. “You’re a rich kid, too.”

“Yeah, but you’re old money. Everyone knows that’s worse.” Kakashi shifted his legs so they were crossed at the ankle. “And if you call me that again, I’ll lace your cigarettes with poison.”

Asuma chortled, seemingly unconcerned by the threat. Conversation then devolved into different ways of killing Asuma using his cigarettes in some way, and Iruka was both disturbed and amused by the amount of morbid ideas his friends could churn out at the drop of a pin. They politely changed the subject when the waiter returned with their drinks and snacks, then tore into the food like famished wolves. Iruka laughed at them, leaning back with his water bottle and deciding to wait until they were done fighting to grab some spicy edamame.

A soft tap on his elbow made him look at Kakashi. The man offered Iruka a small bowl—full of spicy edamame. Iruka laughed harder, feeling his face burning with a dangerous mixture of delight and embarrassment. “For me?”

Kakashi was also blushing. “Ah, well—you like these, don’t you, sensei?”

Iruka gave him a pleased little smirk. “I do,” he said, then he grabbed a pod. He placed one side between his lips, presseding the other until a soybean popped into his mouth. He munched happily on his snack, giving Kakashi a dimpled close-mouthed smile as he did.

Kakashi stared at his lips for a long moment, transfixed. Then he snapped out of it and blushed harder, giving a high-pitched giggle and hiding his face behind the bowl.

Illogically, Iruka counted that as a win.


	4. Chapter 4

One hour and a half into their karaoke session, _Toxic_ by Ezumi Shiori started playing at one point. That Kakashi was the one singing it, Asuma and Genma in tow, was only a plus.

During the main instrumental break, Kakashi did some wild Shiori-esque dance moves that made Iruka lose his mind. The way he squealed and swooned was extremely embarrassing, but he was having so much fun, he just clung to Kotetsu and pretended to faint. Kakashi flexed at him when he opened his eyes again, and Iruka collapsed backward onto the sofa, laughing hard and fanning his face.

The next few songs were a blur of nostalgic childhood bops to which everyone sang along even if they weren’t the ones with the microphone. Halfway through _I Want It That Way_ , Anko rose from her sleep, sitting up abruptly on the sofa and blinking hard against the room’s light.

“Oh, this is my _jam_!” she shouted, startlingly cognisant, and lunged for a microphone.

This seemed to punctuate the beginning of the end. After they were done jumping around to that tune, they managed to squeeze in one last song. Iruka, Kakashi, Izumo, and Genma made sure to bully everyone into picking a track by One Path—it was only fair. So their night ended with the four of them fervently singing _History_ and holding back tears for the boy band they had grown up with and were still hoping would come out of hiatus.

Predictably, Iruka gave in and burst into tears at the end. Unpredictably, this prompted everyone to gather around him in a tight group hug that only made him cry harder. He couldn’t tell if they were trying to be nice or if they just wanted to see if he could get dehydrated from crying. When they pulled back, he noticed Genma’s eyes were suspiciously bright, so he did the asshole thing to do and pinched his cheeks.

“Heck off, ugh,” Genma grumbled, swatting him away and wiping at the corners of his eyes.

Iruka gave a watery little titter, letting Asuma pull him into a rough side-hug. The manliness of it was somewhat ruined by the fact that Asuma was built like a wardrobe, and Iruka fit under the crook of his arm almost as snugly as a certain genjutsu master. Asuma recalculated, putting Iruka into a soft headlock and breaking up the group hug for good by marching them back to the seating area, Anko hooting and taking the opportunity to smack Iruka’s rear.

“Hey—” Iruka grunted as Asuma half-suplexed him onto a seat, then curled up into a defensive position when he caught a glimpse of Kotetsu and Anko lunging forward—wheezing and laughing a second later when they landed on him with twin grins. “Get off, you morons—augh, ack, no—”

“Surrender to usss,” Anko hissed, digging her fingers into his armpits.

“Stop— _gh_ —” Iruka laughed, trying to protect his neck from Kotetsu’s own assault. “ _Fyugh_ —”

Then suddenly he was free, Kotetsu and Anko lying on a heap on the floor. Iruka slowly uncurled, looking at their whinging selves, then at Asuma, who was leaning back after having ruthlessly shoved the pair all off.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re pretty scary sometimes,” Iruka said.

“I’m awesome,” Asuma said with a shrug, placing an unlit cigarette between his lips. It was a miracle he hadn’t broken the bar’s rules yet. He was probably trying to impress Kurenai, especially since she had turned out to be such a karaoke fan. “Let’s finish eating, yeah?”

* * *

They filed out of the karaoke bar some time later, some tipsier than others, but all of them able to walk on their own, which Iruka counted as a win on their part. Look at them, still being passable adults after a night out. It wasn’t that they liked to drink themselves under the table, but they were prone to challenges that involved alcohol, and when you had friends like Izumo and Asuma, who drank spirits as though they were water, any attempts at keeping up resulted in blissful drunkenness and miserable hangovers.

Genma was the first to split and go home, giving a lazy salute and promising to show them that night’s pictures once he had the camera film revealed. He grinned at Iruka and Kakashi as he said that, and Iruka decided he would make him rewrite the next ten mission reports he handed in. Asuma and Kurenai left next, or tried to—Anko pressed a hasty kiss to Iruka’s cheek and chased after them cackling about chaperoning. Then Izumo and Kotetsu left, each one giving Iruka a quick hug before giving Kakashi an awkward side-glance and bow and taking to the rooftops.

Iruka watched them go, feeling warm and tingly and happy. He had hoped the night would be fun, but it had exceeded his expectations. The memories he had made in the span of two hours would help him through a lot of hard times, he was sure of it.

“The end of the night,” Kakashi said next to him, clearly lost in thought.

Iruka paused, then ventured, “We should say goodbye.”

Kakashi beamed at him. “But we carry on.”

Iruka’s smile turned into a wide grin. “While everyone’s gone.”

Kakashi chuckled, kicking at an invisible pebble, hands in his pockets. Not quite knowing what to do with his hands, Iruka took a page from Kakashi’s book and safely placed his fiddling fingers out of sight by slipping them into the armholes of his flak vest. He wondered if Kakashi also wished they had sung that song together during karaoke.

“You look like a featherless chicken,” Kakashi said.

Iruka gave him a flat look. “You sure know how to make a man feel special, Kakashi-san.”

Then Iruka flapped his bent arms a few times, not unlike a featherless chicken. Kakashi giggled, shoulder hunching up as he tried—and failed—to quieten himself. Iruka giggled too, simply because the sound of Kakashi’s laugh was infectious. He was in no way pleased by the fact that the man he fancied had just likened him to naked fowl.

“Anyway,” Iruka said after they’d calmed down. “It’s, um—it’s been fun. I’m glad you could come. If I’d known you were a fan, I would’ve invited you.”

“You could’ve invited me anyway,” Kakashi said, retrieving a hand out of a pocket to scratch at the back of his head. “I mean, I would’ve liked that. I would like that. It’s fun. Was fun, I mean. It could be fun again, maybe?”

Iruka took a moment to reply, too stunned by what he was hearing. “Yeah, it could.”

They stood there, neither willing to move away, to say goodbye, to end the evening. Iruka felt as though a powerful magnet jutsu was pulling him toward Kakashi, tugging and tugging at his chest, beckoning him to move closer and closer and closer still.

Iruka cleared his throat. “Well,” he said, then fell silent.

“Actually,” Kakashi said, straightening up as if an idea had just struck him, “you know, I’m not ready to go home yet, and I’m pretty sure the bar closes at two.” Kakashi pointed with a thumb at the door behind them, the dull thump of its sitting area’s music leaking through and mixing with the stillness of the street. “What do you say, sensei? Want to stay until then?”

Iruka shuffled, torn between wanting to stay and the very real knowledge that he had to get up in six hours. He had school in the morning. If it had been a shift at the Mission Desk, he would’ve just asked to be in charge of archiving rather than running the desk, but no—he had thirty unruly pre-genin who would sense his tiredness and take advantage of it to try and demolish half of Konoha.

But Iruka also had the acute feeling that if he said no now, he might not ever have another opportunity like this. And he had never been good at denying himself something he wanted—there was a reason he ate ramen as often as he did.

“Just two more hours,” Kakashi added, perhaps sensing that Iruka was about to give in. “They’ll fly by.”

Iruka smiled at him. “Only because the company’s so great.”

He held an elbow out; Kakashi took it.

Together, they stepped back into the karaoke bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s it for now! I know I promised more, but my current schedule does not allow for it. The plan is to continue this story, but: a) I’m too busy at present to commit to a posting schedule, and b) I might make what comes after this a sequel instead of continuing to add chapters here. So, I’ll just mark this story as complete for the time being. Thank you all so much for reading! Hope to see you when I continue with the karaoke shenanigans. And, again, happy birthday, Keith! 🥳🎉✨


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